Acts 16:6-10
Paul, Silas take the gospel to Europe
The doors were closed to Paul when it came to preaching the gospel where he was. This must have been a little perplexing to him since he was a Roman citizen in a Roman colony trying to preach. The Spirit kept telling him no and he kept searching.
How did the Holy Spirit send this message to him? We don’t know. Common ways in the early church were through a prophet of the Lord, it may have been by a vision, or it may have been an inescapable conviction of his own. Another way of communication could have been his ill health-his thorn in the flesh. At any rate, the message was clear to Paul. How do we react to these sorts of things? Could it be that we are being led in a particular direction?
What makes Paul’s health a possibility is that in verse 10 the story changes from third person telling to first person witnessing. Luke was a doctor making it more likely that Paul was suffering from some ailment that he felt needed attention. This is an example to us that Paul took his weakness as being a messenger from God.
Next, week is Paul’s dream and the first conversion from preaching in Europe.
Acts 16:11-15
Review: The dream of the man in Macedonia gave Paul guidance to seek to go on to Macedonia to preach the good news. What do Christians see as guidance from the Lord / Holy spirit today? Consistent study of God’s Word gives us guidance through faith in our convictions based on our study. We have read before that the amount the Holy Spirit works through us is a direct result in our attitude and growth in faith.
Are we paying attention? We have talked about the times in our lives when a check showed up in the mail on the day a bill was due or the milk ran out for the baby when there was no other money to pay for it. Are we paying attention and looking for these instances in our lives when something occurs by God’s intervention?
Do we keep searching for an answer or do we quit and wait for the answer to come to us? The search for answers can get exhausting and it is work. In our society today the prevailing attitude of young people is that it has to easy or I’m not going to be taking part. I don’t care what the consequences are. The addage of nothing worth-while comes without effort seems to have been lost to a certain extent these days.
In Philippi, the Jews didn’t have synagogs, but they had a place of prayer where they met each Sabbath. These places were generally along a river in a lonely, shady place. Paul’s work was so extraordinary there because of the cross section of people that were there. Lydia was among the most wealthy in the city being a merchant of purple. This was very costly because the dye was gathered drop by drop from a certain shellfish.
What do you think about the Lord opening Lydia’s heart to Paul’s message?
Lydia’s immediate reaction was to extend hospitality to Paul and his friends. When Paul was explaining Christian character he said that Christians should extend hospitality (Romans 12:13). Peter urged the same thing about hospitality on his converts recorded in 1 Peter 4:9.
Hospitality is hard for me because of the amount of effort it takes to get the kids on board for the hospitality program, clean the house, and have the energy to entertain. Then, there is the issue of space. Growing up, we had people around many times, but not really like what Paul and Peter are describing. I have started a new program in my business life that I hope will change this and get hospitality into our program giving us more motivation to do more of this.
Next week, the slave girl who tells the world Paul and Silas are preaching the Word of God.
Have a Great Week!
Brad
